Television

Thursday, December 31, 2015

Police officer deaths by gunfire down 14 percent

Four percent more law enforcement officers at the
federal state, territorial and local levels died in the line of duty in 2015
than in 2014, according to a preliminary report from the National Law
Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, according to National Public Radio.

But despite several high-profile shootings of police
in 2015, the group also says more officers died in traffic-related events (52)
than from gunfire (42).

The number of police officers killed by gunfire fell
14 percent from the 49 who were shot and killed in 2014. Seven of those
shootings followed traffic stops; six were surprise attacks on officers, such
as the Aug.
29 slaying of sheriff's Deputy Darren Goforth at a gas station in
suburban Houston.The 2015 figures released this week are
in rough proportion to recent annual reports from the nonprofit NLEOMF, which
says that in 15 of the past 20 years, traffic-related incidents have been the
leading cause of death for officers killed in the line of duty.

About Matt

An analysis of crime and punishment from the perspective of a former prosecutor and current criminal justice practitioner.
The views expressed on this blog are solely those of the author and do not reflect the opinions or postions of any county, state or federal agency.